October  23,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
391 
In  cases  where  stocks  are  a  distance  apart  bring  them 
close  together  by  moving  a  foot  or  so  at  intervals  of  a  day 
or  so.  Whilst  on  this  ground,  it  may  be  well  to  correct  the 
erroneous  impression  that  prevails  amongst  a  section  of 
British  bee-keepers,  that  driven  bees  can  be  united  to  those 
on  bar  frames  by  running  them  in  at  the  entrance.  This  is 
only  wild  speculation.  The  advocates  of  the  plan  know  as 
much  about  the  operation  as  (to  use  an  Americanism)  would 
fill  a  Filbert.  They  appear  to  entirely  ignore  the  fact  that 
bees  which  are  not  on  frames  never  successfully  unite  with 
those  on  frames. 
The  only  method  by  which  this  may  be  accomplished  is 
to  remove  the  oldest  queen  ;  shake  the  bees  of  the  established 
stock  off  the  frames  on  the  alighting  board,  and  then  as  they 
run  in  throw  the  condemned  bees  amongst  them,  afterwards 
replacing  the  combs.  Even  this  method,  with  the  extra 
labour  of  spraying  with  peppermint,  &c.,  is  not  always 
certain,  and  if  fighting  ensues  the  smoker  should  be  freely 
used,  and  the  hive  sides  thumped  heavily.  This  will  gene¬ 
rally  restore  order. 
Where  it  is  impossible  to  bring  stocks  close  together, 
deprive  the  stock  of  its  queen  and  brood.  Two 
days  afterwards  it  can  be  readily  united  to  any 
other  colony  in  the  apiary  which  is  in  possession 
of  a  fertile  queen.  Another  plan  which  does  not 
necessitate  the  removal  of  the  brood  is  to  remove  the 
queen,  and  eleven  days  afterwards  go  carefully  through  and 
destroy  all  queen  cells.  Two  days  afterwards  unite  them 
some  evening  by  the  alternation  of  bars  method.  The 
explanation  of  this  is  that  if  bees  are  rendered  queenless,  and 
are  so  placed  that  they  have  no  means  of  raising  another, 
they  will,  when  joined  to  a  colony  in  possession  of  a  fertile 
queen,  remain  in  any  position. 
Bees  which  have  been  in  transit,  confined,  or  overheated, 
should  not  be  placed  together  until  they  have  cooled  down. 
The  cooling  process  is  carried  out  by  placing  them  near  the 
hive  to  which  it  is  intended  to  unite  them,  and  removing  the 
cover  of  the  receptacle  so  as  to  permit  flight.  Leave  them 
in  this  condition  for  twenty-four  hours.  They  can  then  be 
united  with  perfect  safety  by  the  method  before  mentioned. — 
E.  E.,  Sandbach. 
Young  Gardener's  Domain. 
Willie’s  Wall. 
Willie  was  a  chorister  in  the  old  Abbey  church  of  Border- 
chester,  where  he  long  rendered  efficient  service  as  “  principal 
treble.”  He  was  a  boy  of  refined  tastes,  delighting  not  only  in 
vocal  music,  but  in  the  execution  of  Bach’s  fugues  and  the  like 
on  the  pianoforte,  in  water-colour  drawing,  and  in  the  cultivation 
of  flow’ers.  But  his  only  garden  was  a  very  narrow  strip  of  soil 
at  the  top  of  a  wall  in  his  father’s  backyard.  This  little  border 
could  only  be  reached  by  a  ladder,  and  could  only  be  seen  either 
from  an  upper  window  or  from  behind  a  wooden  fence.  Here 
Willie  cultivated  Snowdrops,  Crocuses,  Daffodils,  and  Tulips, 
followed  in  due  course  by  Polyanthuses,  Pansies,  Sweet  Williams, 
and  other  flowers.  He  had  also  a  thriving  bush  of  Rosemary,  and 
some  fancy  Ivies  and  other  creepers  to  run  down  the  wall. 
The  neighbours  would  often  look  over  the  fence  to  admire 
the  flowers,  and  as  Willie  emerged  from  boyhood  and  began  to 
pay  more  attention  to  personal  appearance,  he  might  often  be 
seen  with  an  elegant  “buttonhole”  culled  from  his  own  garden. 
Of  course,  like  other  gardeners,  Willie  had  his  troubles.  The 
city  cats  found  that  his  garden  afforded  a  delightful  promenade, 
and  they  disturbed  his  slumbers  not  only  by  their  nightly  con¬ 
certs,  but  by  fears  for  his  flowers.  They  would  wander  on  the 
wall  in  the  daytime  as  well,  and  Willie’s  tiny  sister  Mary  has 
been  known  to  risk  her  little  life  and  limbs  by  trying  to  mount 
the  ladder,  not  to  meddle  with  her  brother’s  flowers,  but  to  drive 
away  the  cats.  Thus  we  see  what  may  be  done  in  the  way  of 
gardening  under  difficulties,  and  readers  in  towns  and  cities  may 
perhaps  be  glad  of  the  suggestion  afforded  by  “  Willie’s  Wall.” 
— J.  F. 
TRADE  NOTE. 
An  Improved  Plant  Barrow. 
The  adjoining  figure  illustrates  the  improved  plant-barrow 
referred  to  on  page  339  by  Mr.  R.  E.  Sanders  in  his  remarks 
under  the  heading,  “Wanted — Inventors.”  It  explains  itself. 
The  patentee  and  maker  is  Mr.  John  Sanders,  builder,  24,  Down¬ 
side  Terrace,  Hampstead,  London,  N.W. 
Fruit  Forcing. 
PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES:  EARLIEST  FORCED 
HOUSE. — The  trees  are  now  at  rest  and  promise  well,  the  buds 
of  the  standard  varieties,  such  as  Royal  George  and  Stirling 
Castle,  not  being  too  large.  This  is  a  good  sign,  as  Peaches  and 
Nectarines  subjected  to  early  forcing  year  after  year  are  liable 
to  have  the  buds  swelled  to  a  large  size,  and  these  not  unfre- 
quently  fall  when  they  should  be  starting  into  blossom.  Some 
kinds  are  more  prone  to  this  than  others.  Of  the  very  early 
kinds,  Alexander  and  Waterloo  are  the  worst,  often  casting  most 
of  the  buds,  and  it  certainly  is  due  to  over-development,  as 
the  buds  on  the  sub-laterals  (as  occurs  from  stopping  when  the 
trees  are  grown  on  the  standard  system)  are  retained,  and  the 
blossoms  develop  perfectly  and  the  fruit  sets  freely,  while  on 
the  first  made  part  of  the  wood  of  the  shoots  the  buds  are  large 
and  drop  in  showers. 
Hale’s  Early,  the  very  best  of  the  early  Peaches,  taking 
quality  into  consideration,  casts  many  buds,  being  little  better 
than  Early  York,  which  drops  the  buds  alarmingly.  Noblesse, 
however,  stands  at  the  head  in  liability,  to  cast  its  buds,  then 
comes  Grosse  Mignonne,  and  both  these  have  a  tendency  to 
form  double  or  triple  fruit  buds  without  a  wood  bud  at  the  same 
joint,  also  to  form  buds  with  two  or  three  pistils  in  embryo, 
in  due  course  developing  into  twin  or  triplet  fruit.  This  is 
what  is  meant  by  over-maturity  of  the  buds,  and  is  common  to 
all  large-flowered  varieties  of  Peaches  and  Nectarines,  which 
probably  arises  from  a  prolonged  season  of  growth,  with  a  decided 
tendency  to  over-production. 
The  small-flowered  varieties,  such  as  Early  Louise,  Stirling 
Castle,  Royal  George,  and  Dymond  Peaches,  and  are  the  best 
of  early  forced,  being  high  in  colour  and  of  unquestionable  quality. 
Of  Nectarines,  Cardinal,  Early  Rivers  and  Stanwick  Elruge  are 
excellent  for  early  forcing.  Bud-casting  seems  influenced  to  a 
great  extent  by  treatment,  and  in  the  case  of  early  forced  trees 
it  is  necessary  to  keep  them  as  cool  as  possible  after  the  fruit 
is  gathered  consistent  with  their  safety,  even  shading  where  the 
panes  of  glass  are  large  and  the  weather  bright  and  hot  for 
prolonged  periods,  and  remove  the  roof  lights  when  the  wood 
becomes  sufficiently  matured.  Where  this  has  been  done  the 
borders  have  got  thoroughly  moistened  to  the  drainage,  and 
when  that  is  the  case,  and  the  buds  are  not  over-matured,  there 
is  relatively  little  danger  of  their  falling. 
The  trees  should  be  pruned,  the  house  thoroughly  cleansed, 
limewashing  the  walls  with  a  handful  of  flowers  of  sulphur  added 
to  a  pailful  of  limewash,  and  the  trees  washed  with  a  tepid 
solution  of  carbolic  soap,  l^oz  to  a  gallon  of  water,  using  a  brush 
and  taking  care  not  to  dislocate  the  buds.  This  may  be  followed 
by  a  more  powerful  insecticide,  the  petroleum  emulsion,  and, 
indeed,  all  oils  or  fats,  properly  saponised,  emulsified,  or  made 
soluble  and  innocuous  to  vegetation,  having  fungicidal  as  well 
as  insecticidal  value.  Tie  the  trees  to  the  trellis,  forwarding 
everything  so  that  a  start  can  be  made  when  the  proper  time 
arrives.  The  roof  lights  should  remain  off  until  the  time  of 
closing  the  house,  cr  if  the  lights  are  fixed,  which  is  a  great 
mistake,  as  it  causes  the  trees  to  be  subjected  to  alternating 
fluctuations  and  depressions,  both  of  heat  and  moisture,  the 
inside  borders  must  not  lack  moisture,  but  be  made  and  kept 
in  a  damp  state  down  ,to  the  drainage,  and  air  be  given  to  the 
fullest  possible  extent.  No  amount  of  frost  will  injure  properly 
matured  wood,  and  the  buds  are  never  injured  by  frost  until 
they  commence  growing. 
SECOND  EARLY  HOUSE.— For  second  early  forcing  there 
are  no  better  than  Hale’s  Early,  A  Bee,  Stirling  Castle,  Royal 
George,  and  Dymond  Peaches;  Rivers’  Early,  Lord  Napier, 
Stanwick  Elruge,  Humboldt,  and  Dryden  Nectarines.  The 
trees  have  for  the  most  part  cast  their  leaves,  the  roof  lights 
having  been  off  some  time,  for  if  kept  over  the  trees  longer  than 
is  usual,  as  sometimes  is  necessary  when  the  wood  is  strong  to 
mature  it  properly,  they  must  now  be  removed.  The  ventilating 
lights,  both  top  and  bottom,  may  remain,  so  that  the  fixing 
and  lefixing  of  them  is  obviated,  while  the  trees  have  complete 
exposure  to  atmospheric  influences.  The  exposure  has  an  in¬ 
vigorating  effect,  it  secures  perfect  rest,  and  the  rains  do  much 
to -free  the  trees  of  insects,  besides  thoroughly  moistening  the 
borders.  When  the  foliage  is  all  down  the  necessary  pruning, 
dressing  with  an  insecticide,  and  the  cleansing  of  the  house 
should  be  proceeded  with,  removing  the  surface  soil  down  to  the 
roots  and  supplying  fresh  material,  but  not  covering  the  roots 
deeper  than  2in  or  3m.  In  the  case  of  fixed  roofs,  water  may  bo 
